On Sept. 5, President Donald Trump and Attorney General Jeff Session announced the ending to the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that was introduced in 2012 by former President Obama. The program known as DACA has protected nearly 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. It has given students the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.

Since the first day I was elected to public office, I have been a strong voice in representing all families, the undocumented and the underserved, and a strong advocate for civil rights.

On a family vacation in New Mexico in mid-2009, I was traveling with my wife and family when I was racially profiled and pulled over by local law enforcement. Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer had recently signed Senate Bill 1070 into law, which allowed state and local law enforcement officers to racially profile, make unlawful stops, detentions or arrests where there was reasonable suspicion that the individual was an illegal immigrant.

It was then I was inspired to take a tougher stance against Arizona’s SB1070 — leading a national boycott against Arizona; refusing to fly into Phoenix; distributing thousands of red, yellow and blue rubber bracelets that read, “Vote No on SB 1070,” and writing letters to the Major League Baseball Players Association urging players to wear the bracelets.

After discussing the Dream Act with Colton Unified school board member Sonny Abril, he suggested that I introduce legislation to address the need of students to complete not only high school, but to further their education.

So in June 2009, I introduced the PROUD Act, H.R. 2681, People Resolved to Obtain an Understanding for Democracy, that would have provided a streamlined path to citizenship for young immigrant students who were brought to the U.S. at an early age. The PROUD Act would have changed existing policies that unfairly punish the innocent young people who came as children to the U.S. by no choice of their own. The PROUD Act was the foundation for critical comprehensive immigration reform.

The PROUD Act was important legislation to put our most responsible and successful immigrant students on a streamlined path for citizenship, and at the same time to motivate all our students to do their best and to stay out of trouble. It’s what is needed today to address the needs of the Dreamers. Same concept as DACA, but with a path to citizenship.

The significant difference between the DREAM Act and the PROUD Act was the way in which Dreamers would obtain residency, citizenship and the specific age requirements.

The DREAM Act called for giving undocumented immigrants legal status if they were of good moral character, immigrated to the United States before the age of 16, had a high school diploma or its equivalent, and committed to attending college or serving in the military for at least two years. Eventually, if they abided by the set of criteria, they would have been eligible to apply for U.S. permanent residency.

The PROUD Act was different, it was not another version of the DREAM Act. It was open to all kids who want to be productive members of our community; who may not want to go to college, but may want to go to vocational school. Or what if they want to be a cook, and take pride in earning money for their families and want to do it legally?

What was included in the PROUD Act? Students were required to furnish official transcripts from middle school(s) and high school(s); demonstrate that they had completed a curriculum reflecting knowledge of U.S. history, government and civics and graduated from high school; demonstrate that they had been of “good moral character” for the past six years, and they had to be between the ages of 18 and 25 on the submittal date of the naturalization application.

Additionally, the PROUD Act addressed increased school dropout rates, therefore incentivizing undocumented students. The PROUD Act was a streamlined pathway to citizenship. It was the most logical, fair and comprehensive immigration reform.

When I introduced the PROUD Act it was endorsed by the League of United Latin American Citizens, U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic College Fund, Hispanic Institute, Hispanic Federation, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, National Association of Hispanic Nurses, William C. Velazquez Institute, Colton Joint Unified School District, United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1428 and other organizations.

Joe Baca represented parts of western San Bernardino County in Congress from 1999-2013.

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